CANNES, France (VIP NEWS) — MIDEM director Jérôme Delhaye has laughed off rumors the conference could move outside Cannes, despite delegate numbers continuing to fall for its 50th anniversary.
Delhaye, who replaced Bruno Crolot in the role following last year`s event, said there were 4,400 attendees in 2016 – down from 5,500 in 2015 . He said this was partly due to the flooding in Paris, which had led to a few cancellations, along with the discontinuation of a business-to-consumer strand, noting that the actual number of professionals in attendance was only "a couple of hundred" down on last year.
More than 600 labels and 85 countries – 10 more than last year – were represented, with the Top 5 countries represented being France, Germany, the UK, US and Japan.
"It was for me the perfect 50th anniversary," said Delhaye. "It was full of celebration, full of new ideas, full of new talents, full of discovery, full of announcements and, on top of that, full of business, so I can`t wait for the next edition."
Dismissing speculation that MIDEM could shift to Barcelona in 2017, or even come to an end entirely, he said: "Pardon my French, but that`s crap. It will be in Cannes, in June. We are not in a rush to announce dates, it will take us a few weeks."
